[Wine] 2 wines to try from Aldi

I've been sampling a lot of Aldi wine recently, and it's fair to say that they are offering some great value for money at the moment. Out of all the bottles I've tried, two have stood out as bottles that I am happy to recommend to you. 

First up is a barrel-fermented Limoux Chardonnay from Langudedoc legend and wine producer Jean Claude Mas. It's a rich, full-bodied wine with crisp lemons and apples, a touch of honey, underpinned by a luscious buttery, nutty oak finish. The heavy bottle is uniquely attractive in its own right. This is a cracker served cold on its own, or with a Sunday roast chicken. Plus, it scored an impressive 90 points on a recent Decanter tasting. 

[Wine] Torres Purgatori

We spent a recent weekend in the stunning Priorat wine region, which is located a bit under a 2 hour from Barcelona. It's one of just two DOQ wine regions in Spain, the other being Rioja and it's a majestic place, renowned for powerful red wines which possess incredible minerality. When you see the steep, sun-baked terraces, perched on the sides of the hills and mountains, it just all makes sense. 

If you travel even further inland far away from the sea, through the Priorat and near the city of Lleida, you will enter the territory of DO Costers del Segre. It's a harsh, semi-arid region with dry, hot summers and colder winters. According to Spanish winemakers Torres, the monks of the famous Montserrat abbey would carry out their penance at the Desterrats estate in Costers del Segre, working the land to produce food for the diocese. In the manner typical of monks all over the world, they also managed to produce some excellent wines in the region, which now inspire the name of Purgatori, the first Torres wine from this region. 

Image taken from Torres website

[Wine] Aldi Priorat and Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Aldi continues to enhance its wine offering, and I recently did a trawl through their French Wine Sale offerings, as well as picking up some other interesting wines from the shelves. My normal preference is for white wine, but these two reds have impressed me. 

Lot 06 Priorat 2014, €13.99

The Lot Series is a new range from Aldi, where each wine has been made by a well-known and well-respected producer of their region. Each bottle is individually numbered and features a beautiful hand-painted label. My bottle was #12,2006 from a batch of 36,000.

Priorat is a Spanish wine region, located close to Barcelona, and is one of only two wine regions in Spain to qualify as DOCa (alongside Rioja). It hasn't been widely known up to recently, but is gaining a strong reputation and producing some of the most expensive Spanish wines. 

This Priorat is made from Grenache with 14.5% ABV. It has lots of red and dark fruit (think cherries) on the nose, which continues on the palate, with some subtle spice. Tannins are firm without being too strong. Very delicious. 

Château Pindefleurs Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2011, €18.99

A Right Bank Bordeaux, this is dominated by Merlot (90%) with Cabarnet Franc making up the remainder. It's a denser beast than the Priorat, with lots of blackcurrants, dark fruit and chocolate, plus a nice smoky woodiness of cedar and oak, complete with good tannins. There's a slight note of violets and mint to balance out the richness. I think I'll be heading back to buy a few bottles for Christmas drinking.